First-ever female chief ranger selected for Santa Clara County Parks
Santa Clara County gets first-ever female chief ranger
Chief Park Ranger Ali Henry began her first week on the job on July 7.
For the first time, Santa Clara County has a woman leading park ranger operations across 28 county parks.
Chief Park Ranger Ali Henry began her first week on the job on July 7.
Been with the department since 2011
How she got here:
Henry started working with the department in 2011 as a part-time park services attendant at Coyote Lake while she was in college.
"I was 20 years old. I saw the flyer and I tore off the phone number at the bottom, and one of my classmates, a male, said, ‘I bet you I could get this job over you,’ and I said, ‘You’re on,’ and I was selected, and he was not," Henry said with a laugh.
She was sworn in as a park ranger in 2014 and began working her way up the ranks.
"I remember early in my career, people were super surprised that they were being talked to by a park ranger that was a female," she said.
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The San Jose native graduated from Pioneer High School and grew up coming to Santa Clara County parks, specifically Calero, where she said her family often took their boat for water-skiing.
"Every time we crusted the hill on McKean Road coming up to the entrance of Calero, you would look over and see the water level, and you would hope, fingers crossed, that the water level was high," she said. "Because that meant more water to play in and more water to enjoy."
She later went on to work as a park ranger at Calero.
Few women on the job
By the numbers:
The National Park Service reports roughly 37% of park rangers in the U.S. are women.
In Santa Clara County, Henry said there are less than 10%.
"We didn’t have a lot women, but there were several women that were in senior ranger roles that I looked up to," she said.
What chief rangers do:
Starting this week, she’s in charge of about 100 people, across 55,000 acres.
The parks in Santa Clara County see more than 3 million visitors a year.
Deputy Director Joe Aguilera, who chose Henry for the position, said her leadership, tenacity, and commitment to public service made her the right person for the job.
Rangers don’t just enforce park laws, they also handle medical emergencies and deal with wildfire mitigation and preservation.
"Basically when you call 911, a park ranger’s coming if you’re in the parks," Henry said.
Henry's vision for Santa Clara County Parks
What she's saying:
Henry said when she took the position, there was a 30% vacancy rate, and that her vision is to bring in more diverse rangers so that parkgoers can see themselves in the people who work there.
"A lot of people just aren’t aware that these opportunities exist," she said.
With recruitment being a top priority for Henry, recruiting season is every year between April and June, with the next group of rangers coming through the academy beginning January 2026.